Over the Limit (2010)
Over the Limit (2010) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and presented by Axe Hair, which took place on May 23, 2010 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. It was the first event promoted under the Over the Limit chronology. Nine matches took place at the event, eight of which were broadcast live on pay-per-view. In the main event from the Raw brand, John Cena faced Batista for the WWE Championship, while Big Show versus World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger was the main event from the SmackDown brand. Matches on the undercard included Randy Orton against Edge, CM Punk facing Rey Mysterio, and Drew McIntyre defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston. Other championships defended at the event were the WWE Divas' Championship and the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. The event drew 197,000 pay-per-view buys, and was attended live by 11,000 people. Reviews for the event were generally negative, with reviewers criticizing the endings of the matches, stoppages for blood, and predictable match results. Five wrestlers sustained legitimate injuries during the course of the show. Storylines Over the Limit involved different wrestlers from scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. The main feud from the Raw brand heading into Over the Limit was between John Cena and Batista over the WWE Championship, and had been going on for several months. Cena retained the WWE Championship against Batista at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view in a Last Man Standing match, by taping Batista's ankles to the ringpost to ensure he could not stand up by the count of ten. The next night on Raw, Batista defeated Randy Orton and Sheamus to become the number one contender to the championship and earn a rematch against Cena. On the May 3 episode of Raw, they competed in a Beat the Clock challenge to determine the stipulation for their match. Batista defeated Daniel Bryan in 5:06, but Cena defeated Wade Barrett in 4:32 to win the challenge and the right to name the stipulation. The following week, Cena announced that the match would be an "I Quit" match. The predominant feud from the SmackDown brand was between Jack Swagger and Big Show, over Swagger's World Heavyweight Championship. As part of the 2010 WWE Draft, Big Show was drafted to SmackDown, where he was named the number one contender upon his debut on April 30. Over the next several weeks, Big Show chokeslammedSwagger through the announce table, and interrupted a promo on the May 14 episode of SmackDown, in which Swagger was boasting about his accomplishments. As part of the segment, Big Show destroyed Swagger's trophies and memorabilia. The following week, Big Show mocked Swagger in promos throughout the show and distracted Swagger during Swagger's match with Kofi Kingston, allowing Kingston to win. As part of the 2010 WWE Draft on April 26, Edge was drafted to the Raw brand. Later that night, Edge interfered in a match to determine the number one contender to the WWE Championship, spearing Randy Orton and preventing Orton from receiving a WWE Championship match. The following week, Edge hosted an edition of his talk show, The Cutting Edge, with Orton as his special guest. During the show, Edge justified his actions by saying he was trying to make an impact, and attempted to convince Orton to reform Rated-RKO, their former tag team. Instead Orton attacked Edge. The following week, Orton defeated Edge and Ted DiBiase in a handicap match, which led to "Pick Your Poison" matches on the May 17 episode of Raw, where Edge and Orton picked each other's opponents for the night. Edge faced The Undertaker, and lost intentionally by countout, while Orton faced Jack Swagger, and lost by disqualification when Edge interfered. The rivalry between Rey Mysterio and CM Punk was continued from several previous pay-per-views. After months of feuding, Mysterio challenged Punk to a Straight Edge Society Pledge vs. Hair match at Over the Limit. Had Punk won, Mysterio would have joined the Straight Edge Society, Punk's faction which promoted the straight edge lifestyle. Had Mysterio won however, Punk agreed to have his head shaved. On May 14, Mysterio and Punk faced each other in a singles match, but the Straight Edge Society (Luke Gallows, Serena, and a mystery masked man) interfered and attacked Mysterio. The following week, Mysterio interrupted an initiation ceremony, in which Punk was shaving the heads of three men to induct them into the Straight Edge Society, and mocked Punk, claiming everyone would be laughing at Punk when he was shaved bald at Over the Limit. Later that night, Mysterio teamed with Montel Vontavious Porter to defeat Punk and Gallows in a tag team match. Another feud was over the WWE Intercontinental Championship between the defending champion Drew McIntyre and Kofi Kingston. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long stripped McIntyre of the championship and fired him for repeatedly attacking Matt Hardy. Long set up a tournament to determine the new champion, in which Christian and Kingston qualified for the final by defeating Cody Rhodesand Dolph Ziggler. The following week, on the May 14 episode of SmackDown, Kingston defeated Christian to win the tournament and the championship. Immediately following the match, however, McIntyre presented Long with a letter from the WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, which stated that McIntyre had been reinstated to the roster and was still recognized as the Intercontinental Champion. As a result, WWE's official website announced that McIntyre would defend the championship against tournament winner Kingston. The team of Chris Jericho and The Miz had begun feuding with The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith) over the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. The Miz's feud with The Hart Dynasty had begun while The Miz was one-half of the Unified Tag Team Champions with Big Show. During the Draft episode of Raw, The Hart Dynasty defeated The Miz and Big Show to win the championship, which led to Big Show turning on The Miz. The following week, The Miz and Jericho, another former tag team partner of Big Show, teamed up to attack The Hart Dynasty. Jericho went on to defeat Smith to earn a championship match for himself and The Miz at Over the Limit. After WrestleMania XXVI, Ted DiBiase had debuted a new gimmick of an arrogant millionaire, similar to his father (Ted DiBiase, Sr.)'s old gimmick. On the April 5 episode of Raw, DiBiase was given possession of the Million Dollar Championship and access to a trust fund by his father. DiBiase then began looking for a "Virgil", a manservant like his father used to have. He offered the position to R-Truth, who refused, leading to a feud between the two. After losing a match to John Morrison, DiBiase attacked him, prompting R-Truth to interfere and save Morrison. In retaliation, DiBiase paid The Colóns to attack R-Truth the following week. In the only women's match scheduled on the card, Eve defended the WWE Divas Championship against the former champion, Maryse. Eve had won the championship on the April 12 episode of Raw, and in the weeks that followed she was attacked by Maryse, who was attempting to get revenge. Aftermath During the event, five wrestlers suffered legitimate injuries. Randy Orton dislocated his shoulder while Ted DiBiase suffered a concussion, and although they both appeared on Raw the following night, they did not wrestle. CM Punk required 13 staples to close the wound in his forehead he sustained during his match with Mysterio. Batista suffered a back and tailbone injury during his match with John Cena, who himself suffered a laceration and lost a tooth. On the episode of Raw following Over the Limit, Bret Hart was announced as the new Raw General Manager. During Batista's promo at the beginning of the show, Hart interrupted and told him that if he wanted a rematch against Cena, he would have to qualify for the fatal four-way match at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view in June. Batista refused to wrestle, citing his injuries, and as a result Hart awarded the match to his opponent Orton by forfeit. Following Hart's decision, Batista quit WWE. This storyline was put in place as Batista was legitimately leaving WWE to pursue acting and a career in mixed martial arts. Apart from Orton qualifying via forfeit, the other qualifying matches for the WWE Championship fatal four-way match saw Sheamus defeat Mark Henry and Edge defeat Jericho and Cena in a triple threat match. On the May 28 episode of SmackDown, SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long announced a fatal four-way match for the World Heavyweight Championship would be taking place at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view. As the defending champion Jack Swagger automatically was part of the match, and as a result of his win by disqualification, Big Show received automatic entry. Later in the show, both The Undertaker and CM Punk qualified for the match as well, by defeating Rey Mysterio and Kane respectively. During his qualification match against Kane, Punk wore a mask to the ring in order to hide his newly-shaven head. During his match with Mysterio, The Undertaker suffered a concussion, broken orbital bone and broken nose and the following week, was deemed unable to participate in the match. WWE replaced him in the match by devising a storyline in which The Undertaker was found in a "vegetative state" by his on-screen half brother Kane on the following episode of SmackDown. That same broadcast, a battle royal to decide who would replace The Undertaker at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view was won by Rey Mysterio. At the beginning of the May 28 episode of SmackDown, Drew McIntyre made Teddy Long read out a letter from the WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, which stated that as a result of attacking McIntyre at Over the Limit, Matt Hardy had been suspended without pay until further notice. On the same episode, McIntyre simultaneously continued his feud with Kofi Kingston by teaming with Jack Swagger in a loss to Kingston and The Big Show. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * Lists of WWE pay-per-view events * Over the Limit Category:Over the Limit Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2010 Pay-Per-View Events